Box Score Photo by: Tony Leon/ActionWestPhotography.com
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. – Trailing 2-1 midway through the second half Saturday afternoon, the Whittier College Men's Soccer team bounced back to edge the Kingsmen of Cal Lutheran University 3-2 in double overtime snapping a four game losing skid.
"This win meant alot because it was from behind," explained Head Coach Shea Harwell. "Anytime you go down and can fight back for not just the equalizing goal but the double overtime win it helps lift moral and brings the team together. We're a very young squad and after some injuries to big players it was encouraging that some young guys stepped up like Jacob Conlon (Fullerton, Calif.), who obviously scored twice. The win was great to have but now we look forward to CMS this Wednesday."
Cal Lutheran (2-7-2, 2-5-1 SCIAC) looked like they would add the first score of the game in the 25th minute when Bryan Hulse lofted a ball to Brandon Kearney in the box who then tapped it through to the right corner but a Whittier defender was there to clear it away for a team save.
A minute later Whittier would get an opportunity but unlike Cal Lutheran, they would find the back of the net. They pushed the ball into the attacking third and were awarded a free kick at the top of the box. Pablo Gomez (Cardiff by the Sea) then stepped up and drilled home a shot to the top right corner of the goal that put the Purple & Gold in front 1-0.
With five minutes left in the first half, Kearney raced across midfield with the ball for the Kingsmen and passed a through ball towards Nick Baldi on the left side. In a race between Poet keeper Jorge Rivas (Lake Forest, Calif.) and Baldi for the ball, the CLU forward would get there first and punched the ball into the goal for the equalizer.
Eight minutes into the second period, CLU would take their first lead of the contest thanks to Kearney who received a cross from Tal Zaiet beating the back line heading in the go-ahead goal. The score would remain 2-1 until the 87th minute when Whittier would stun the crowd tying things up at two, which sent the game into overtime.
Gomez fed the ball to freshman Conlon who was able to beat Kingsmen keeper Sean Williams with a strike to the top left corner.
After a scoreless first OT period, Conlon would come up big again three minutes into the second with the golden goal coming on a break-away finishing to the bottom left-corner.
Whittier (3-4-1, 4-5-1 SCIAC) was outshot for the game 38-9 and saw just two corner kicks. Rivas finished with a season high 14 saves in the victory with Conlon leading the offensive attack with four shots, with all four being on goal.
Whittier returns to action this Wednesday, October 7 as they host Claremont-M-S beginning at 7:00pm.
